Commercial property insurance is for landlords who rent out properties for commercial use such as shops, restaurants, or industrial units.
Protect your property with our commercial landlord insurance. Talk to one of our commercial property insurance specialists who can search the market to find you the best insurance.
We’ve been working with landlords since 1995, so we know it’s vital to find the right cover for your property. We provide high-quality cover and award-winning service at a great price – so you get the best deal around.
Because our commercial landlord insurance product is managed in-house, we provide a unique service, with pricing, underwriting and claims primarily managed by our own team. We also have a landlord advice hub that is full of useful information to help landlords and property owners find the advice and products needed.
Our advice and service have been recognised by the industry and our customer feedback scores are proof of our consistently high standards.
We've dealt with Alan Boswell for over 10 years and have always been very impressed by their efficiency.
Our commercial landlord insurance policies cover a range of risks, so you get complete peace of mind.
If you are a property owner and you have a change of tenant or processes undertaken within the property you will need to inform your insurance provider. Failure to do this could invalidate any claim.
It is important to make your insurance provider aware if there will be any periods of inoccupancy to ensure the property is covered correctly whilst unoccupied. Again, failure to inform your insurance provider could invalidate your insurance.
Our commercial landlord FAQs page aims to answer some of the common questions regarding commercial landlord insurance.
We have specific insurance designed for landlords to cover the range of property you might have, which is why we can provide a range of additional covers:
Landlord building insurance is a vital cover for your rental property we can search the market, compare quotes, and arrange your insurance so you get the best cover available.
Multi-Property landlord insurance for your residential and/or commercial property portfolio.
A comprehensive flat insurance policy tailored to your requirements will give you peace of mind, talk to one of our specialists today or get a quote online
Provides insurance for non payment of rent in the event of a tenant defaulting as well as any landlord legal expenses cover of up to £100,000.
Provides cover for your rental property, including repossession of the property and other legal disputes.
Home emergency cover for your own or rental property in the event of a domestic emergency e.g. boiler breakdown, failure in utilities etc.
Referencing of tenant(s) employment history, tenant history, identity and credit history and affordability.
The property owner or landlord, is responsible for arranging building insurance on commercial property that is rented out.
Under the terms of most commercial lease agreements, the landlord will often pass on the cost of building insurance to the tenant.
Theft and theft by tenant is covered under commercial property policies. However, most policy wordings state that there must be evidence of entry by “forcible or violent means” in order for a claim to be valid.
When offering their quote, the underwriter will look at the local crime map to analyse the crime rate in the surrounding area of the property. Should this be in a high crime area, an insurer may look to increase their excess or restrict cover. However, the stance on this can vary from insurer to insurer therefore as a broker we are able to search our markets and find a quote with a high quality of cover for a competitive rate.
Fire is covered under all commercial property policies, including when the property is unoccupied.
The very basic cover offered by insurers, in particular when a property is vacant, is for fire, lightning, explosion, and aircraft. However, it is important to note that explosion from fire is typically excluded and this is restricted to explosion of gas boilers, or gas used for domestic purposes. Subterranean fire is also excluded.
As defined by AXA in their policy wording, flood is defined as “the escape of water from the normal confines of any natural or artificial watercourse, lake, reservoir, canal, drain, or dam. Inundation from the sea. Rain-induced runoff. Whether resulting from storm or not.”
When considering whether to offer flood cover an underwriter will look at a range of factors. These include; The Environment Agency’s Flood Map; how far away the property is from a river, sea, or lake and; the history of previous flooding in the surrounding area. With these three factors in mind, they will decide whether to offer standard terms, increase the excess, or exclude flood completely.
A commercial property policy will provide essential flood and storm cover for the structure and landlords contents looking only to exclude damage in respect of fences, gates, or moveable property in the open.
Water damage caused by a burst pipe, also known as ‘escape of water’, is a cover often found on a commercial property insurance policy. Despite a common misconception that the pipe itself is covered under the policy, this is not always the case; however, instead, the damage arising from this escape of water is covered by the insurance. For example, a pipe suddenly bursts in your property and damages the floor and several appliances. The pipe itself would be excluded, but the material damage to the structure and contents would be covered by your insurance policy.
However, many policies offer ‘trace and access’ cover as part of their policy. This means that should there be some evidence that there is a water leak occurring, you may have to call someone in to remove plasterwork or floorboards to identify where this is coming from. This can prove costly. Therefore this trace and access will cover the cost of locating the source of the leak, and any costs necessary in repairing and making good any damage caused in locating this. The main reason insurers offer this cover is to find the leak quickly, therefore avoiding further widespread damage and minimising claim costs both for yourself and them as a result.
A guide to all the law and regulations that commercial landlords need to know about.
Complete guide to being a commercial landlord, including the pros and cons, and your rights and responsibilities.
Who is responsible for insuring a commercial building? We answer landlord and tenant questions.
Commercial Property Insurance is one of the most important things to remember when purchasing your new property.
Find out everything you need to know about commercial property insurance in our quick guide for commercial landlords.
If you own a commercial property for rent, you’ll know it comes with certain responsibilities. But there’s often confusion about who is responsible for what; landlord or tenant?
Keeping up with frequent legislative amendments, as well as large scale regulation reform, can seem like a never-ending task; Find all the benefits of joining a landlord association.
Landlords must ensure that a range of safety checks are carried out before you rent a property, and different documents are required in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Find the full Landlord certificate list
Investing in commercial property can be beneficial if you’re a business owner, as you’ll have premises for your company plus regular payments into your pension.
Landlords have a legal responsibility to adhere to fire regulations for rental properties, to protect both their tenants and their investment. In this guide to fire safety rules for landlords, we explain all the mandatory regulations for both domestic and commercial properties, including vital gas and electrical safety certificates.
There are very strict rules about when and how a landlord can enter a rental property. In this article, we look at what they mean for tenants and landlords – and how to avoid falling foul of the law.
If you are insuring a single building you could pay as little as £306 for a commercial landlord insurance policy. The exact cost will depend on several factors including the construction type, size of the property, and the business your tenant undertakes, but last year 10% of our customers paid £306 or less (Jan 22 – Dec 22).